Second Hakafot
Second HakafotShneur Schiff

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, chairman of the Religious Zionist Party, announced on Friday afternoon that he will join the Rosh Yehudi organization’s Simchat Torah celebrations which will take place in Tel Aviv on Saturday night.

"I am calling on my friend Benny Gantz - let's dance together with joy and true unity in honor of the Torah and in honor of the unity of the people of Israel. The two of us will join together, hand in hand, the tens of thousands of people dancing and celebrating in the traditional Second Hakafot in Tel Aviv," he said.

“We will gather, all the different shades of Israeli society, coalition and opposition, and show that it is possible and that we must continue together, that we will not allow the extremists to harm the tradition and unity of the people and separate us. We will say goodbye to the Tishrei holidays with unity and show the entire nation in Israel and the world that it is possible to do it differently," added Smotrich.

On Friday morning, the Supreme Court discussed the petition submitted by Rosh Yehudi demanding to allow the holding of the Simchat Torah celebration in Dizengoff Square on Saturday night, contrary to the decision of the Tel Aviv Municipality.

The judges asked the municipality to reach a compromise after criticizing its conduct. After discussion, the municipality decided to accept the proposal stating that the celebration would be held in Dizengoff Square and that Rosh Yehudi would not put up a partition between men and women.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Simchat Torah and Shmini Atzeret in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)